Rocky Shore

The watercolour above sold a while ago but is an example of generic subjects. It is actually off the Pembrokeshire Coast but could be anywhere. Many artists in the late 19^th and early 20^th century made their living painting numerous scenes like these. Whilst I am happy to paint most things I wouldn’t want to be painting these repeatedly.  As I have said before I tend to paint specific subjects i.e. a recognisable (hopefully) place or subject.

Today I did a watercolour of the Bascule Bridge in Carmarthen. I haven’t taken an image of it so I will probably post it tomorrow.All the decorations are down and life is reverting back to normal or a more restrained form of chaos if you like.

Carreg Cennen

The painting above is the commission I was working on last weekend. There are some great views of Carreg Cennen Castle but it is probably most spectacular from this side.

Today was spent working on the business side and sorting out our print requirements so no painting done today. There is still a lot to be done to catch up in the office. So although Alex has made progress the fact that we have not been working fully the last month has meant there is a backlog.

 The last visitor left yesterday and Jac has now regained his status as top dog. We have to go to the gallery this evening and change a couple of paintings. So a quick cup of tea in to town and then settle down to watch the rugby.

PC Problems

The watercolour above was done from the sketch yesterday. I am not wild about it but Alex likes it so who am I to argue. Alex has been catching up on paperwork for the business today. I have done the painting and working on the computer.

Cant live with them can’t live without them. I have heard that before anyway in this case it relates to a 6 year old Compaq with so many gigs? Recently whatever we have tried the internet has frozen at regular intervals at the most inconvenient times which causes more than the odd, “oh dear!”

The Pc has been scanned with every type of virus program and malware download available. It has had the registry checked and a nice man in India offered to fix it for a mere $350. A snip I thought.

Oh for the time when a PC was a large jolly man walking down the street wearing a blue serge jacket and pointy hat.

Anyway I finally junked internet explorer and tried Google Chrome as a browser. With the exception of a problem with the font size of emails it appears to be functioning very well (so far # not counting any chickens yet). No sign of a freeze on the horizon or anywhere else.

My mother thinks we are her parents, which means I am well overdue for a good number of telegrams from the Queen. At times I feel that old as well. Nevertheless fortitude and perseverance are the watchwords. I am looking forward to having another day of painting tomorrow (hopefully) as the walls are a bit depleted after a bumper end of year.

2012

The sketch above is of the Towy Valley looking from Carmarthen towards Abergwili with Merlin’s Hill on the left. The Church is St David’s. I intend to do a watercolour from the sketch.

We still have our son’s dog as he and his family are stuck in Ireland due to Gales in the Irish Sea other than that we are resuming normal service. Alex is in Town restocking cards and prints in the gallery.

The year is booking up already with a couple of definite exhibitions and 2 probable ones. We are still planning our charity exhibition. Four exhibitions is more than enough with gallery and internet work.

So here comes 2012.

Picture Window

The watercolour above is the same subject (Merlin’s Hill Towy Valley) as the one that went awry the other day (cockled). Anyway no problems this time. I stretched the paper fully and used good quality Saunders Waterford paper.

Yesterday we wanted a quiet day after the grandchildren left. It seems that everyone and his dog wanted to visit or phone us. Individually not a problem but it was one after another. I ended up being extremely rude to the man from Dunraven Windows who phoned at 6.30pm awakening me from my fourth attempt to doze in the chair. He wanted to discuss double-glazing! I mean it was a Bank Holiday wasn’t it? The last call was after 9pm. I sometimes think a telephone is no great advance for the human race. I shall endeavour to leave it off the hook more in future. That can be my New Years Resolution. Alex has got straight into framing and mounting prints today. This afternoon she is going to paint a room for her mother.

Lazy Day

I don’t have the painting above it was I did when I was doing my degree in fine art. It was heavily influenced by the contemporary artist David Salle who is not only an interesting artist, he can paint. Something that can be a rarity in the avant garde.

Anyway I popped to the gallery today to do a couple of jobs then walked the dogs.
The grandchildren have gone and we are going to relax for the remainder of the day.

Try link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLexgOxsZu0

Preseli's

The painting above of the Preseli’s sold yesterday to a couple from Lampeter. We had a very pleasant evening with friends and Alex’s mom around. Alex as usual did a wonderful job as a hostess and cook. So a good New Years Eve but we are both quite tired!

Alex’s mother stayed the night but has gone home now. We now have 2 of the grandchildren until tomorrow. Alex is playing with them now while I am watching the rugby on TV. (half time now).